[boost] Radical idea for repository structure

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-09-17 15:31:18

A few days ago I started thinking about the implications of giving
each Boost library a separate subtree of the repository, and it led me
to some interesting places.

* Start with the assumption that each library has a boost/ directory
  containing its subset of the headers it currently has.  So, for
  example, Boost.Python would have

           boost/
              python.hpp
              python/  
                 ...

  where "..." above is identical to the current contents of
  $BOOST_ROOT/boost/python/

* Our release process would merge the boost/ directories

* To test a library from a source distribution, you'd need to get the
  boost/ directories of any libraries it depends on into the #include
  path.

* This list of dependency libraries would be encoded in each dependent
  library's Jamfile.

* Presto, a way to explicitly declare and track library
  inter-dependencies!  If you fail to declare a dependency in your
  Jamfile, your tests won't compile.

Thoughts?

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
http://www.boost-consulting.com
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